Now, I’m talking about a healthy desire or competition – not vulgar jealousy. There’s a fine line between unhealthy jealousy and a competitive spirit that pushes you towards achieving goals.
Let’s look at some examples:
First we have John, an average guy who struggles to pay his bills each month. One evening while watching TV he catches the show The Apprentice and sees Donald Trump. He starts thinking to himself, “I wish I had what he had. It’s not fair that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth while I sit here at risk of losing my house.”
Then we have Mary, another person who is barely able to keep up with her bills each month. She also tuned into the Apprentice and is thinking similar thoughts, though with a distinct difference, “I wish I had what he has. In fact, I’m going to sign up for a real estate class and learn the business so that eventually I can have that kind of success.”
Looking at the two people above, both would love to have Trump’s status and fortune, but only one has a realistic chance of improving his/her lifestyle.
John is just plain jealous, which is an ugly and self-destructive attitude that leads him to rationalize that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In his eyes, life just isn’t fair and there’s nothing he can do about it.
On the other side, Mary understands that Trump is a savvy businessman and that he made his fortune in real estate. She knows that anyone with enough determination and vision could potentially learn the real estate market and achieve their own success. She is embracing her competitive spirit. She wants what Trump has, and she knows the there’s enough for everyone so she’s going to do her best to achieve that kind of success as well.
Yes… these examples are highly exaggerated and maybe somewhat unrealistic for most of us. As much as we’d like to become a billionaire, it’s probably not likely. But what’s to say we can’t become very wealthy – maybe even a millionaire? If that’s what we want and we are willing to give it a lot of hard work, determination and a healthy sense of competition, the opportunity is there for us.
While many religions and society in general have taught us that competition and jealousy are bad, how else are we to know what we want? Jealousy is meant to be a cue that informs us about what’s missing in our lives and what we long for. When we see something that another person has, it’s OK to want that as well, as long as it is a healthy desire and you are creating an honest plan to achieve those dreams. It only becomes a problem when you’re going down a self-destructive path that doesn’t benefit you.
So reach for your dreams. Embrace and nurture your inner competitive spirit such that it bubbles up and guides your actions every day. Competition is a wonderful motivator. In fact, many of the world’s most accomplished people wouldn’t be where they were today without a strong competitive spirit.
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Let’s have some conversation!
EXPECT Success!
By Lynn Huber
p.s. Experiencing jealousy right now? That’s an amazing sign that you’re going to the next level in your life! Here’s an affirmation that will help. Place your hand over your heart. Then repeat after me… “It’s my time and I’m ready for the next step.” Just because it’s manifesting in someone else’s life, doesn’t mean you can’t have it too. There’s more than enough abundance to go around.
